Elk Creek

Chapter 9

"She likes you," Raina sighed as they pulled away from the large house. Twin storms were glued to the side mirror, watching the little girl that had skipped out onto the porch beside the muscular mustached man.

Val glanced at the mirror. "You've raised her well." There was a twinge of regret in his voice mixed with a pain that made Raina ache to make everything better. Her fists clenched in her lap.

"It would have been better with you." Anger flashing in his eyes, Val nodded his agreement.

"Yeah."

"I would have stayed if I could have." Val grunted, knowing that Raina wasn't ready to discuss why she had run away so many years before. It was killing him, not knowing who had hurt her. Fists clenched around the steering wheel.

The remainder of the drive into town passed with discussion of Iza and her experiences. Conversation seemed to circle around when and how they would tell the little girl about Val but they couldn't seem to pin down any plans.

As Val steered the cruiser on to the main drag, Raina became even more skittish, shrinking in on herself as much as possible. Her eyes darted back and forth, no longer just focusing on the mirrors but all around.

"Raina, if this is too much, I can..."

"I'm fine," Raina said making a conscious effort to sit straight in her seat. Eyes sparked with a determination to conquer her fear. "I...we need to pick up some things for Iza..." She paused, her next words coming out as an afterthought. "For Christmas."

For the time being, Val let Raina's odd behavior slide. She was still edgy, thinking that Williams guy was following her. Pulling to the side of the road in front of the local toy store, Val watched Raina out of the corner of his eye as they stepped from the cruiser.

A small bell jangled over head as they entered the store. As he followed Raina down the aisles, the incident with Iza last night flashed through Val's mind. Before that night he hadn't really thought anything of Raina's fears of being followed, but after find the back door open, cold air quickly filling the living room, he knew someone was after Raina and her daughter. Had Iza really seen someone outside the window? Could some guy really be trying to find Raina?

An uneasy fog had drifted into the open space around Raina and Val as they pulled into town, dense and cold with Raina's fear. Val watched her carefully out of the corner of his eye. She seemed to believe she was in danger. They finished in the toy store and returned to the cruiser.

The incident at the police station crept to his attention. Raina had certainly been acting odd. Why? Val pulled the cruiser to the side of the road in front of the local general store. Trembling, Raina clutched her wallet to her. She stared out the windshield, down the street. As he pulled the keys from the ignition, Val followed her line of sight.

A police pickup was parked several blocks down. "Rain, is everything okay?" he asked tentatively. His hand moved to her elbow.

"Yeah," Raina said, her eyes still glued to the pickup. "Everything's fine." Shoving the door open to end the conversation, she stepped from the cruiser.

~*~

From down the street he had the perfect view. Hanson's cruiser had come to a halt in front of the general store. All that was left to do was to wait. Raina needed to be given enough time to reach the back of the store.

The Sheriff's fingers twitched, eager to press the button on his phone that would lure Hanson away. It didn't need to be long.

For the briefest moment the Sheriff considered what would happen if Val didn't step away from the blond to take the call. He shook his head. It was too late for thoughts like that. There was no turning back. All he could do was make sure he wasn't caught.